It was so painfully obvious yesterday it was basically black and white. Slow developing plays up the middle against the blitz consistently went nowhere, quick plays to the outside avoiding that pressure worked quite well. Yet for some inexplicable reason we favored calling slow developing plays that were vulnerable to the blitz. It's even more obvious that Fitz is a completely ineffective blocker. Ever since the ND game having him in the backfield doesn't even slow any defender down, at all, yet we still rely on his blocking to keep Devin upright. Its stupid, stupid, stupid.

Serious question for people: why is everyone convinced that Hoke won't make serious changes to the staff after this year? Everyone seems to be telling themselves that basically if Brandon doesn't force him, he'd be more than happy to keep Borges and Funk until the end of time. Where does this come from? Past history retaining underperforming coaches/coordinators? Something else I don't know about? If it's just going based off of his comments, I don't take much from those. In most cases, even if he was thinking about making big changes, he would probably be publicly defending his guys until the end.

Serious answer for you. Because I have seen absolutely nothing from Hoke in either his words or his actions that give me the slightest hope that he even sees there is a problem. And if he doesnt see a problem why on earth would he think anything needs to be fixed. Here, IMO, is the offense world accoding to Hoke:

Young line = ineffective run game no matter what we do

Young line will get order and therefore better next year and freaking AWESOME the year after that

Manball works

Manball only works if you're committed to it and to be successful we must stay the course and not lose faith

Borges is a great OC who is powerless to do anything given the state of the offensive line

Now why would any changes be needed? The problem (according to Hoke) will be resolved with time - not coaching changes.

What do you think he is going to say... Ok guys I know our big fat jabba the hut offensive co. Sucks!! He's just up there eating pizza an corn dogs and calling bad plays!! But it'll get better when we execute. Blah

It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong...and I am that big man.-Micheal Scott

@bluesuave34- if he thought there was a problem, we wouldn't see the same bad play calls week after week. The fact we are, leads me to believe he doesn't see a problem with the calls, just the execution.

Because I have seen absolutely nothing from Hoke in either his words or his actions that give me the slightest hope that he even sees there is a problem.

That's a bit of a straw man argument, isn't it? You say you haven't seen or heard anything, but what would you expect to see? We know he isn't an offense-minded coach, so there is only so much he will do before he just shows the Al the door. For one, we have seen offensive line shuffling. We have also seen Funchess moved out to more of a WR role.

Obivously there are still issues, but do you honestly think Hoke doesn't believe there are any issues? Do you honestly think Hoke is satisfied with how things are going?

Hoke is a defensive coach, do you believe he doesn't see what EVERY other team sees when they face our offense?

No I honestly don't. Because if he did he would do SOMETHING about it and not just blindly support Borges. Something, ANYTHING that indicated he didnt think all was rosey with our offense.

I'm sorry guys but there's a lot of room between "I see nothing wrong with the play calls" and throwing your coach under the bus. You could say "of course there are issues - everyone can see what we are doing isnt working as well as we'd like and we're all committed to fixing it."

I don't see why acknowledging what is painfully obvious to everyone is somehow disloyal.

You have your opinion, and you're entitled to it. But, as a defensive coach and a defensive player, I assure you that he is very in tune to field position. I think you are clearly mistaken. The question, though, is what should he do about it. I saw major deficiencies in QB play yesterday. Do you want him to take Gardner out? I see lack of blocking from the RB in blitz. Do you want him to take Fitz 0ut? If so, then please tell me who is coming in.

"Yellow the stars as they ride through the night
And reel in a rollicking crew"

If he is in tune to what has been going on, why is his OC repeating the same mistakes. This felt a lot like the play calling from the PSU and MSU game. The running backs in this game had 17 runs for 17 yards, but they thought it was a good strategy to run on 1st and 2nd down after the muffed punt.

If Hoke is aware and fixing things behind the scenes, why am I not seeing any changes in the playcalling when we could have put more distance between us and Nebraska.

What mistakes? Please articulate what them. I presume we're talking about play calling. If so, what should have been different? If not, what is the mistake?

I don't remember if they ran on first and second after the muffed punt. I guess I'll go look it up. I do remember that after getting the ball in NE's side of the field, we threw a bomb on first down unsuccessfuly.

I get that we can't run. I also get what happens with Gardner if you throw every down. Is there a backup who you think will play better, more consistently, or make throws instead of eating the ball while watching the d rush/ Who is that? Same quesions regarding the O line and running backs? Who are these subs that will perform?

"Yellow the stars as they ride through the night
And reel in a rollicking crew"

I'm going to have to disagree with you strongly. Let's assume for a second that firing an OC mid-season is bad and regardless of what will happen to Borges eventually, the administration will try to avoid this. Given that, almost regardless of what happens in-season, it seems to be in Hoke's best interest to circle the wagons until the changes actually need to be made at the end of season. He gains little by publicly throwing his staff under the bus mid-season before the changes, so the fact that he says little and defends the play calling, in my mind, reveals very little information about his true intent. The only time I could see this helping a coach is if the head coach is on the hot seat as well, and needs to buy some time. Hoke isn't, and doesn't.

"But all Nebraska and Bo Pelini did was copy the defensive plan employed a week earlier by Michigan State. Blitz, blitz, blitz, and when Michigan brought in extra guys to protect, Gardner held the ball too long, waiting for someone to get open."

It would seem then that I wasn't the only one that noticed the eerie similarities between defensive gameplans then. Yesterday's game dropped us to the #81 offense in Division I by total yards, if I managed to calculate the average right.

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

I completely agree with you 100%. This is actually one of the things I like about Hoke. He is the CEO of Michigan football (DB not withstanding) and I think he allows his coordinators to do their jobs without micromanaging.

That being said, this is Hokes time to take some action. He needs to make some changes on his staff and the vetting process better begin now (if it hasn't already).

Both Pete Carroll and Les Miles were coordinators before getting a head coaching job. I am not sure I agree that they are delegators. Their coaching experience would suggest they are more engaged then that.

Pete Carroll was a Defensive Coordinator and Offensive Coordinator at points in his college career as well as an NFL Head Coach.

Les Miles was an Offensive Coordinator during his college coaching career.

It is plain as day. There need to be changes on the offensive coaching staff. If Hoke makes them and we see progress next year that will reestablish my faith that he is the guy. If he doesn't make changes and we see the same things next year he will be on the hot seat. If we don't make it to the Big Ten Championship game in 2015 and probably win it then he will be out.

If these things don't happen and Hoke is retained after not making changes then the infrastructure will probably take a hit and fans will not park their butts in the seats. The next thing to go will be viewing it on TV. Vicious cycle.

Please be the guy Hoke.

I get knocked down, but I get up again; you're never going to keep me down. I get knocked down, but I get up again; you're never going to keep me down.

My honest prediction, barring a big turnaround that includes an OSU victory (doesn't seem likely, does it?) is that Borges and most if not all of his staff is shown the door at season's end. Hoke isn't gonna go down with the ship and get fired from his dream job just to save Borges. They aren't childhood buddies. They've coached together for 4 3/4 seasons now. That's it. I don't see why everyone assumes Hoke and Borges are soulmates.

All it takes is Brandon pressuring Hoke to make a change, and IMO a change is made. He may well choose to make it even without Brandon chiming in. There is NO WAY Hoke is happy with the rushing performance, all the tackles for losses, the inability to do ANYTHING out of the I formation. He's not just going to stick with business as usual in the offseason. This job is all he's ever wanted. He may not know how to fix the offense (that's where a new OC comes in,) but he's surely smart enough to see that it's broken.

Fred needs to retire (his kid is graduating, so it's a perfect scenario). Funk needs to be fired ASAP.

I think Borges could be good, if he has a really good team. He's not a create something out of nothing kind of guy. Nor is he creative, but in 2-3 years, with a solid senior class and great recruiting, Borges could be good, IMO.

I agree with everything you've said in this post, but is that the type of OC you want for a college football team? I mean, its not every year you're going to have the perfect team. Every college team in the country has some sort of deficiency and most teams have many. A good OC in college is creative, plays to his teams strengths and gets the most out of the players he has on the roster.

Having a "good" or senior laden team should not be a requirement for an OC. I would even agrue that Michigan has had "good" teams or offensive players every year since Al has been here.

I agree with what you said. If he is silly enough to stay the course with Borges, then he deserves to lose his dream job. There are plenty of good offensive coordinators to be had to be this terrible at offense.

Hoke is a glorified position coach. he spends all his time with the defensive line with greg mattison. he has no clue about the offense that is why he lets the offensive coaches and al borges do what they want. he doesn't listen to play calls. Hoke decides when to kick a field goal or punt, whether or not to call a time out. that might work in the MAC or Mountain West.. NOT IN THE BIG TEN. he needs to go to a Head Coach clinic this offseason and learn how to be a head coach or Dave Brandon needs to start thinking about a new head coach.

Last I checked, he was H.C. at Ball State, and the last thing that school wanted was to lose him. He went to SDSU, and was an H.C.. The last thing that school wanted was to lose him. There's no lack of H.C. experience with Hoke. In fact, at every prior stop, he was, in fact, successful (of course, one would expect that of someone at Michigan, right).

I guess if you meant that he was once a position coach, fine. So were most or, actaully all, successful head coaches. Marinelli was a glorified position coach, having no head coaching experience before being hired by the Lions, which was his downfall.

"Yellow the stars as they ride through the night
And reel in a rollicking crew"

As I sit here quietly contemplating yesterday's game (which was my son's first game at U-M), I can't help but wonder what our offense would look like under Seth Littrell (currently OC at Indiana). His starting starting offensive line has not one senior and his backups are mainly freshman. Tell me that Indiana's roster doesn't look younger than ours....

Yet his offense is rushing the ball for 5.4 YPC (U-M 3.2 YPC) and passing the ball for 14.1 YPC (U-M 15.6). For the entire season the IU offense has given up 14 sacks. We have 14 in the last two games. IU is averaging over 527 yards per game of offense while Michigan is averaging 385. I could go on but I will stop. Mostly because my Oskar Blues Ten Fidy needs replaced.

I will preface my theories with the concession that I have no inside sources in order to substantiate my suspicions. But a couple of things are surfacing which makes trained analysts note the parrallels.

1. This outfit has the symptoms of a demoralized organization. If you have ever been in an organization that was humming along on all cylinders until the leadership changed, either by retirement or other circumstance..and the new leadership came in with bright ideas that missed; New ideas without consulting the veterans and an inability to read situations clearly, combined with the inability to recognize talent versus the professional ass-kissers..

Then you have seen this before. The situation reaches critical mass at the point where everyone basically quits inside their own mind as a psyche- preservation exercise. The futility erupts into a realization that the situation is hopeless.

2. Bill Davidson, and by default Joe Dumars, became inflated to the point that they believed their organizational structure was responsible for the successes. So rather than accept that Larry Brown's eccentricity was the necessary evil accompanying his genius, they thought that with their superior organization, that just about any coach could plug in and continue the success. Their arrogance destroyed the fiber of the winning chemistry. But, at least the Larry Brown ego was no longer a nuisance.

Is it possible that meddling by the chief is undermining the cohesiveness of this organization? Is it possible that true feelings cannot be expressed or that the veteran's ideas are being overruled? To the point of giving up inside but putting on the face in order to keep the paycheck coming until the ship inevitably runs aground?

Is it possible that a Jim Harbaugh or a Nick Saban or an Urban Meyer have no real chance to be hired here? Was Jim Harbaugh our Larry Brown? His eccentricity overruling his ability to stick regardless of brilliance?

And finally, in closing, I want to answer those who have asked if not Hoke, then who? What 'Michigan Man' is out there or who would want come here?

I will answer that with a question. What Marine, what Seaman, what Airman and what Soldier is just that before basic training?

Close to none of them. That is why they go through basic training. To restructure them into the epitome of the organization.

So along those same precepts, any coach with supreme ability can be molded into a Michigan Man. There would just need to be a 'basic training' program to indoctrinate them as to the do's and don'ts at Michigan.

Michigan deserves to be the best football program in the land. There are coaches out there with the resume accomplished to the point that their thoughts have turned to their legacy.

What greater legacy for a coach would there be than to take the winningest team in history to it's greatest heights ever?

That would equal immortality if you pull it off. There are a few coaches that would bite at a chance for immortality and who 'know' they can do it here.

The only caveat is that the AD would have to give up sitting in on team affairs.

Psychic power is the ability to download information directly from the Universe.”
― Lada Ray